IOC President Thomas Bach’s affection towards China is well documented, but what was not known was how deep his affection for the Chinese really is. However, that became apparent after he addressed the Japanese as Chinese people.
IOC President Thomas Bach made his first public appearance since arriving in Tokyo last week, barely ten days before the Olympics, which have been postponed because of the epidemic. He spent the first three days in seclusion at the International Olympic Committee’s five-star hotel in central Tokyo, and his movements are restricted for the first 14 days, just like practically everyone else competing in the Olympics.
With the ailing games set to go on without crowds in practically all venues, his first destination was the headquarters of the organising committee to provide a pep talk. Last week, organisers and the IOC agreed to bar fans from all but a few outlying venues, a move prompted by the Japanese government’s declaration of a state of emergency in Tokyo due to an increase in coronavirus cases. The state of emergency was declared on Monday and will last until August 22.
At the event, IOC President Thomas Bach addressed the organising committee. He said, “You have managed to make Tokyo the best-ever prepared a city for the Olympic Games,” IOC President Thomas Bach said in his opening remarks to organizing committee president Seiko Hashimoto and CEO Toshiro Muto. “This is even more remarkable under the difficult circumstances we all have to face.”
IOC President Thomas Bach stumbled over his words and said, “Chinese people” instead of “Japanese people.” He said, “Our common target is safe and secure games for everybody; for the athletes, for all the delegations, and most importantly also for the Chinese people — Japanese people.”
The slip was not included in the interpretations of IOC President Thomas Bach’s statements in the briefing, which were translated from English to Japanese. Nonetheless, it was rapidly publicised in the Japanese media, and there was a backlash on social media.
In the context of the Olympics, IOC President Thomas Bach is a well-known advocate of China. He played a key role in averting a global boycott of the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing. Following his discussion with the CCP, the IOC decided to purchase vaccines from China for all athletes.
On May 7th this year, IOC President Thomas Bach attended a phone call with Xi Jinping. Xi congratulated IOC President Thomas Bach on his re-election and said that under President Thomas Bach’s leadership, the IOC has pooled the efforts of various parties and scored a vigorous development of the Olympic movement. Since the onset of the COVID-19 outbreak, the IOC has done a lot of work and infused positive energy into the global solidarity against the pandemic.
High praise from the Chinese leader. Jinping also used this phone call to reiterate China’s commitment to hosting the Winter Olympics. Jinping stressed that China is steadily carrying forward all preparations in order to host the Beijing Winter Olympics and Paralympics on schedule.
Earlier on March 13th IOC President Thomas Bach personally pleaded to the states to not boycott the 2022 Beijing winter games over China’s treatment of its Uighur minority, saying it would only punish athletes. IOC President Thomas Bach dismissed suggestions of a boycott, claiming the International Olympic Committee’s political neutrality and asserting that it was up to the states to fulfil their obligations.
And just a few days before dismissing suggestions of a boycott, IOC President Thomas Bach announced that China had agreed to provide coronavirus vaccines for any participant requiring one ahead of this summer’s Tokyo Olympics and next year’s Beijing Winter Games. This is a health crisis just at the tip of IOC’s hands. Chinese vaccines have become infamous for their low efficacy and ineffectiveness.
This is a great PR ploy for China facilitated by the IOC. It would help Beijing to deflect mounting public scrutiny and criticism about the country’s human rights record ahead of next year’s Beijing Winter Games.
With Bach’s slip of the tongue and addressing the Japanese as Chinese people shows what’s always on Bach’s mind. Thoughts of Xi and the Chinese state never seem to leave him. Thoughts of China and the Chinese state never seem to abandon him.